“One reason PS2 game sales are doing so well is price. Sony earlier this year dropped the price of the console to $129 from $149, a move that appears to have attracted a lot of new game buyers. In fact, the PS2 is outselling the Xbox 360, even though it is a far less advanced machine. [Arcadia Investment Corp. analyst John] Taylor, citing NPD data, said Sony has sold 2.4 million units in the U.S. this year, compared with 2.1 million units for the Xbox 360.”

For all the challenges Sony is facing with the upcoming PlayStation 3 launch, the PS2 sales illustrate how much momentum the company has coming into the new console generation. With the PS3 and Wii launches around the corner, and Microsoft forecasting 10 million Xbox 360 sales by the end of the holidays, it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out over the next year.